Ohio State head coach Ryan Day leads the Buckeyes onto the field prior to the start of the Fiesta Bowl featuring Ohio State and Clemson on Dec. 28. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Former Managing Editor for Multimedia
Ryan Day has the chance to end 2020 without earning a single win, but the view of the second-year head coach has not diminished.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted collegiate sports since March basketball tournaments were canceled. The effects have since brought the Big Ten to cancel its fall sports season, and while the Big Ten has received backlash for its decision, Day has avoided the scrutiny that has befallen a conference that postponed the sport he coaches.
Day has separated himself from the conference by leaning on communication and transparency — qualities that Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren has been criticized for lacking.
Warren’s critics have gone as far as forming the Big Ten Parents United, a coalition of different parent associations around the Big Ten which sent a letter cosigned by 11 of the 14 associations to the commissioner Aug. 26.
“Candidly, at this point, the parent organizations have a total lack of confidence in your ability to lead and communicate effectively with all key stakeholders,” the letter reads.
Acting as the antithesis to Warren, Day said he has remained open and honest with his players in the aftermath of the Aug. 11 decision to postpone the football season.
Although an amid unforeseeable time, Day said that leading during uncertainty is something he signed up for when he took the job.
“This is leadership, and this is making sure we can provide leadership and direction, and that’s what these guys want,” Day said Aug. 12 in a Zoom conference with media members. “The other part is being transparent and real.”
Even before the decision, Day made attempts to be honest and transparent with his players throughout the pandemic. Before the cancelation of the fall season, Day said that he would talk with any player that felt uncomfortable playing the season, and he emphasized that any player that chose not to play would not be removed from the team atmosphere.
“At the end of the day, [if] they don’t feel comfortable, their family doesn’t feel comfortable, that doesn’t mean they’re not going to be part of the program,” Day said Aug. 6 in a Zoom conference with media members.
The conversation extended beyond his players, as Day had discussions with parents, as well. Day said that his phone is always on for parents to call and that he took their feedback to help make the training protocols safer and better.
“When you go recruit young men to come into your program, you’re recruiting the whole family,” Day said. “I think if you asked our parents, I would hope that they’d say we’ve done an excellent job communicating.”
While upset at the Big Ten’s decision to postpone the fall sports season, the parents at Ohio State made it clear that their quarrel was not with Day and Ohio State.
“We are so proud of the university. We are so proud of coach Day and the staff, coach Gene Smith and everything that they’ve done to make our kids and put them in the best possible situation they could possibly be in given the current situation,” Kyle Borland, father of graduate linebacker Tuf Borland, said Saturday.
While the conference itself has taken an optics hit with its own parents and players speaking out against its handling of the postponement, Ohio State has not struggled on the recruiting trail.
Since the Big Ten canceled its men’s basketball tournament March 12, Day has earned nine recruits to his 2021 class and five to his 2022 class, two of which came after the postponement announcement.
“We just haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with them the last six months. It’s been a long time, but it goes back to relationships and trust and continue to build,” Day said.
The efforts of Day and his staff have helped bolster Ohio State’s top-ranked recruiting class in 2021, currently edging Alabama for the top spot.
While the conference continues to navigate through a turbulent time, Day continues to uphold his image by making strides off the field.
